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Veterans Affairs Avoiding Botched Medical Procedures

Associated Press
Wed, June 17, 2009

WASHINGTON DC — The Department of Veterans Affairs is promising to do better, when it comes to avoiding botched medical procedures.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill today, VA officials were asked to explain why a national scare over colonoscopies didn't prompt stronger safeguards at the agency's medical centers.

The VA launched a nationwide safety campaign earlier this year after errors were discovered at facilities in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee that could have exposed veterans to HIV and other infections.

But the agency's inspector general says fewer than half of VA facilities that were selected for surprise inspections last month had proper training and guidelines in place.

The assistant inspector general who led the review told lawmakers he was greatly troubled by the findings.

The chairmand of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has pledged to take disciplinary action.

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